Minimize bills when traveling abroad – 5 things to do

Traveling abroad is fun. And, this fun can be killed easily when you end up with expensive roaming bills. Keeping all the other expenses aside, this is the only expense where you can have control over how much to spend by regulating its usage. Whether it’s your first international trip or you’re a frequent traveler, here are a few ways to minimize bills when traveling abroad, especially international roaming bills.

Buy a local SIM card

The simplest way to cut down your mobile bills is to buy a local SIM card of the country you’re traveling. You save as much as 60-70% of your bills. Using a local SIM gets even better if you’ve a dual SIM phone. Post arrival you get SIM cards at the airport on your passport/visa. The activation process takes a few minutes.

If you don’t want to go through the hassles of buying a SIM at the airport, you can purchase an international SIM card from TSIM. Their SIM cards are economical and offer good plans.

Turn off your data when not needed

This may sound silly, yet many people don’t follow this simple tip. While roaming abroad turn off your cellular data when you’re not using or phone or when it’s not needed. Do that even before you go to sleep. And, of course when you’re in hotel switch to free Wi-Fi even if you have enough cellular data backup.

Update/download apps when on Wi-Fi

Every day you get a ton app data updates. And, these updates are data hogs. Turn off automatic app updates. Also, download the apps you think you will need abroad. Or, just hold on for a while and download the app while you’re on Wi-Fi.

Control Cellular Data for each app and background data

App notifications consume data. While you travel abroad your app notifications can hold on. You can turn the notifications off of the apps which are not important like shopping apps, food ordering apps, entertainment apps, and news app. You can also turn off the data hog apps like iCloud.

Using YouTube on Cellular data is a big no-no

Not the best of the ideas to watch YouTube videos as the app is simply going to exhaust your data. Though you can download plenty of videos before leaving for the destination or while you’re on Wi-Fi abroad. The saved videos can be watched offline and remain for 30 days. Similarly, you can download a list of your favorite songs on Spotify and listen to them offline.

Doesn’t matter- whether you’re on an international roaming plan or using a local SIM card, make sure you don’t end up spending data more than the data in your plan.

These are some simple steps and ways to minimize bills when traveling abroad so you don’t end up overshooting your budget while enjoying your vacation to its best!